The Beginnings of a New Adventure

I am now writing you from Addis Ababa. The journey here was a bit... unpredictable. First, they were unable to check my bags all the way through from Wenatchee so I got to fly to Seattle, pull my bags off the plane, go through the airport, re-check them and then go through Sea-Tac security. Then my flight from Amsterdam to Nairobi was late and my ticket from Nairobi to Addis wasn't ready to go, so I missed my flight to Addis. Fortunately, I got a ticket for the next morning. Unfortunately, I had to spend the night in the Nairobi airport. Fortunately, I found a sleeping lounge in the basement of the airport... (think a 6x4 ft cell with a bed). It was an interesting experience, but I at least got to lay down for a few hours. I finally arrived in Addis 11 hours later than expected and went directly to work at the Institution of Ethiopian Studies. We are running a workshop for 14 people on how to digitize Ethiopian manuscripts. The students are very nice and I have enjoyed working with them. They are learning a lot, but it is slow-going as there is a lot to learn.
Other than a bout of jet lag (to be expected after crossing 11 time zones) I am doing really well. Obviously, I miss my friends and family, but the people here are kind and the friends that I have here are very caring and treat me like family. :) It has been especially fun to reconnect with my good friend Kaleab and I am looking forward to he and I moving into our apartment this weekend. I saw the outside of the building and it looks very nice. Perhaps I will have a strong enough internet connection next week that I can post pictures. I think it will be a nice place and Kaleab and I are very excited that the place has a basketball hoop and some fields to kick a soccer ball around. It will be a great stress reliever. I hope that you are all well and I will write more soon (I have to wrap up my time here at the internet cafe). Until next time.

It's That Time Again

Well, the time has come to leave behind the comforts of the holidays in Wenatchee and begin a new adventure. This newest adventure is six months in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. I will be completing my work at the Institute of Ethiopian Studies with a goal of nearly 400,000 pictures. I will be leading a digitization team of 3 men who are deacons in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, along with several volunteer students from the philology department. We begin training on the 28th and then begin the project as soon as we are able. I will be posting on this blog as often as I can, so please follow along with my adventures. More to follow once I arrive and get on my feet. Until next time.